Summary of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Date: July 10-12, 2012
Location: McCarthy, Kennicott, West Kennicott Glacier Trail
Region & Soil: Boreal Forest, Muskeg,  Glacier till
Weather: 1^st & 3^rd Day—rain, chilly / 2^nd Day—sunny with a clear sky


McCarthy

Orange Cup Fungus

Shelf Fungus—Ganoderma applanatum

Common Horsetail—Equisetum arvense

Grass Of Parnassus (Bog Star)—Parnassia palustris

Yellow Dryas—Dryas Drummondii

Single Delight (Shy Maiden)—Moneses uniflora

Prickly Rose—Rosa acicularis

Pink Pyrola (Wintergreen)—Pyrola asarifolia

Northern Yarrow—Achillea borealis

Coastal Paintbrush (Yellow Paintbrush)—Castilleja unalaschensis

Arctic Daisy—Chrysanthemum arcticum

Yellow Oxytrope- Astragalus umbellatus

Trembling Aspen-Populus tremuloides

Common Scouring-Rush- Equisetum hyemale

Soapberry—Sapindus drummondii

Alpine Bearberry—Arctostaphylos alpine

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Quaking Aspen—Populus tremuloides

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

Kennicott

Blue Bells- Mertensia paniculata

Crowberry- Empetrum nigrum

Common Blueberry- Vaccinium myrtilloides

Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste

Wild Sweet Pea- Hedysarum Mackenzii

Large-Flowered Wintergreen- Pyrola grandiflora

Northern Goldenrod- Solidago lepida

Monkshood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium

Common Juniper- Juniperus communis

Siberian Aster—Aster sibiricus

Yellow Spotted Saxifrage—Saxifrage bronchialis

Kamchatka Rockcress—Arabis lyrata

Twin Flower—Linnaea borealis

Eskimo Potato—Hedysarum alpinum

Dwarf Fireweed (River Beauty)—Epilobium latifolium

Labrador Tea—Ledum palustris groenlandicum

Mistletoe

Paper Birch- Betula papyrifera var. papyrifera

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

West Kennicott Glacier Trail

Northern Red Currant- Ribes triste

Bluebells- Mertensia paniculata

Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste

Stiff Club Moss—Lycopodium annotinum

Dwarf Dogwood—Cornus Canadensis


Alpine Azalea—Loiseleuria procumbens

Western Columbine—Aquilegia formosa

Prickly Rose-Rosa acicularis

Lapland Rosebay- Rhododendron lapponicum

Monks hood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium

Beautiful Jacobs Ladder- Polemonium pulcherrimum

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Paper Birch—Betula papyrifera

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

 We learned differences between Temperate rain forest and Boreal forest, and habitats each region. I think the class was great to learn about nature through actual observations; we could relate the lectures to our filed trips and understand relationships between each species and species and environments. Everything is connected and lives together. This simple fact is just amazing to me, and I really enjoyed the class. I’ve come to love nature of Alaska more than ever!

Round-Leaved Sundew

 Round-Leaved Sundew—Drosera rotundifolia is a very odd, distinguished small, 5-25 cm tall plant. Drosera came from droseros in Greek which means "dewy, watery." Leaves are very sticky and glandular, and blade round egg-shaped. They have long reddish glandular hairs that exude drops of sticky fluid. Flowers are small and white and fully open only in strong sunlight. They bloom in summer and early fall. They prefer sphagnum bogs, wet meadows at low to middle elevation, swamps, mossy crevices in rocks, damp sand along stream, lake, or pond margins. They may also grow on other moss or sedge peat soils. They were seen through the Pacific Northwest Coast. Rund-Leaves Sundew is very shade intolerant since it’s small, even sedges, grasses, and small shrubs may limit light. Insects are caught with the sticky glandular leaf hairs. The hairs digest the insects and enable the plant to absorb nutrients through its leaves. Insect capture is generally believed to enhance growth and reproduction. It’s known as “many hearts” in Haida and used as a lucky charm for fishing.

References:

http://ontariowildflowers.com/main/species.php?id=107

http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/aquatics/droserarot.html

Mineral Creek Trail

Date: July 26, 2012
Time: 1:30-4:00 p.m.
Weather: Sunny with strong sunlight and clear sky

Round-Leaved Sundew—Drosera rotundifolia

Wild Iris—Iris setosa

Dwarf Dogwood—Cornus Canadensis

Narrow-Leaved Cotton-Grass—Eriophorm angustifolium

Star Flower—Trientalis europea arctica

Brown-Stemmed Bog Moss—Sphagnum lindbergii

Crowberry—Empetrum nigrum

Tufted Clubrush—Trichophorum cespitosum

Few-Flowered Sedge—Carex pauciflora

Caltha-Leaved Avens—Geum calthifolium

Steven’s spirea—S. stevenii

Nagoonberry—Rubus arcticus

A Mountain-Ash—spp. Sorbus sitchensis

Siberian Aster—Aster sibiricus

Swamp Horsetail—Equisetum fluviatile

Highbush-Cranberry—Viburnum edule

Sitka Valerian—Valeriana sitchensis

Wild Geranium—Geranium erianthum

Coastal Paintbrush—Castilleja unalaschcensis

Alpine Bistort—Bistorta vivipara

False Hellebore—Veratrum viride

Black Alpine Sedge—Carex nigricans

Wild Celery—Angelica lucida

Goatsbeard—Aruncus Sylvester

 It was our last field trip with a perfect weather. We walked around open bog where was so beautiful. There were full of spongy mosses, green grasses, flowers, and cushiony mud. I enjoyed the feelings like a soft carpet. When we look down very closely, we could see lots of tiny though perfect shaped plants or flowers around there. It was a really great time!  

Star Flower

The Star Flower is what one of the flowered I identified on the Mineral Creek Trail.
I am going to go more in depth with the Star Flower.



Star Flower: Trientalis europea ssp arctica

Family: Primrose/Primulaceae
Habitat: Woodlands and low alpine slopes throughout most of Alaska south of the Brooks Range
Blooming time: June to early July
Description: A low perennial with redish runners. The oval pointed (often reddish) leaves are in a whorl around the stem. The flowers usually have 7 pointed whited petals and the seed is a small silver ball.
Commetns: An easily recognized plant. Another sub-species, europaea, has narrower more pointed leaves.

Mineral Creek Trail

Mineral Creek Trail
Today is 7/26/2012
It was gorgeous today and the sun was shining, it was a very good day to be on a class field trip.

The list we identified today:

Round-Leaved Sundew: Drosera rotundifolia
Dwarf Dogwood: Cornus canadensis
Narrow-Leaved Cotton Grass: Eriophorum angustifolium
Brown-Stemmed Bog Moss: Sphagnum lindbergii
Star Flower: Trientalis europea ssp arctica
Crowberry: Empetrum nigrum
Small-Flowered Lousewort: Pedicularis parviflora
Tufted Clubrush: Trichophorum cespitosum
Few-Flowered Sedge: Carex pauciflora
Caltha-Leaved Avens: Geum calthifolium
Steven's spirea: S.stevenii
Nagoonberry: Rubus arcticus
Mountain Ash: Sorbus, ssp.
Wild Iris: Iris setosa
Siberian Aster: Aster sibiricus
Swamp Horsetail: Equisetum fluviatile
Chocolate Lily:Fritillaria camschatcensis
Highbush-Cranberry: Viburnum edule
Wild Geranium: Geranium erianthum
Sitka Valerian: Valeriana sitchensis
Coastal Paintbrush: Castilleja unalaschensis
Bog Blueberry: Vaccinium uliginosum
False Hellebore: Veratrum viride
Black Alpine Sedge: Carex nigricans
Wild Celery: Angelica lucida
Goatsbeard: Aruncus sylvester

It was such a great class and I hope that others with enroll in it! :) Enjoy everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed learning about all the different plants and flowers we identified on our field trips!!!!

Alpine Azalea

 Alpine Azalea—Loiseleuria procumbens is a diffusely branched, dwarf mat-forming evergreen shrub that trails on the ground without rooting. They prefer alpine slopes, grow in cold and dry areas at high elevations, and are often found with lichen. They are identifiable from July to August, and found in most of Alaska and Canada, Washington, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Eurasia. Their small leaves are bright green and oval, opposite on stems, and leathery. They are hairless above and have short hairs below. The flowers bloom in early June. Their tiny flowers (4 to 5 mm long) are bell-shaped, light to deep pink, and have 5 petals. They are only species of Loiseleuria in North America. Without flowers, it can be confused with Lapland Diapensia which has the same habitat and white flowers. Azalea means “of-dry-habitats” in Latin, and procumbens refers to the low, creeping growth form of the plant.

Reference:
http://www1.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/fguide/pdf/loipro.pdf

Thompson Pass

Date: July 19, 2012
Time: 1:30-5:00 p.m.
Weather: Sunny with clear sky and blinding sunlight

Arctic Willow—Salix arctica

Pussy Toes—Antennaria

Alpine Bearberry—Arctostaphylos alpine

Arctic Daisy—Erigeron humilis

Yellow Spotted Saxifrage—Saxifrage bronchialis

One-Flowered Cinquefoil—Potentilla uniflora

Low-Bush Cranberry, Lingonberry, Mountain Cranberry—Vaccinium vitis idaea

Labrador Tea—Ledum palustris groenlandicum

Dwarf Blueberry—Vaccinium caespitosum

Capitate Lousewort—Pedicularis capitata

Mountain Avens, Eight-Petaled Avens—Dryas octopetala

Pixie Eye Primrose—Primula cuneifolia

Alp Lily—Lloydia serotina

Alpine Azalea—Loiseleuria procumbens

Alpine Arnica—Arnica alpine angustifolia

Moss Campion—Silene acaulis

Mountain Harebell—Campanula lasiocarpa

Coastal Paintbrush, Yellow Paintbrush—Castilleja unalaschensis

Moss Heather—Cassiope stelleriana

Roseroot, Rosewort, King’s Crown—Sedum rosea

Bell Heather—Cassiope tetragona

 It was a beautiful day; a wide view from the pass was spectacular! We walked around the caldera to observe tiny short plants and flowers there. The ground was covered different kinds of lichens and berries, so the feeling of walking on them was somewhat soft and cushiony. The field looked a plain filed without any flowers or plants at a first glance, but when we looked down very carefully, lots of species lived together, and flowers were unobtrusively blooming. They were so pretty and delicate looking.

Arctic Daisy

ARCTIC DAISY: Erigeron humilis

This is one of the many flowers that I identified today at the Thompson Pass Trail. I am going to talk more about this flower and go more in to depth with its information.

General: Perennial herb, with a short taproot or short brittle stem base and often some fibrous roots. the stems are single, 3-20 cm tall and they are hairy with greyish or dark hairs.

Leaves: Basal leaves that are broadly lance to spoon-shaped and are commonly hairless or nearly so by flowering time. The stems leaves linear to lance-shaped, reduced, stalkless, leaves with entire margins.

Flowers: Ray flowers that are white to purplish, numerous about 50-150 . Disk flowers yellow, involucres 6-9 mm hihg, the bracts lance oblong, purplish-black or greenish with long multicellular hairs with purplish balck crosswalls, and the heads are solitary.

Fruits: Hairy achenes, pappus hairs white to tan.

Ecology: Tundra, snowbeds, seepage sites, rocky ledges and scree, in moist to wet alpine sites, also sometimes in bogs at lower elevations. Commin in northern southeast Alaska, usually at high elevations, rare on the Queen Charlotte Islands, scattered in the Coast Mountains to southwestern B.C.

Notes: At least 20 species of Erigeron occur within our region.

Thompson Pass Trail

Thompson Pass Trail is the trail we identified today.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, very good day for a lab outside

The list of things we identified today:

Crow berry: Empetrum nigrum
Alpine Bearberry: Arctostaphylos alpina
Pussy Toes: Antennaria sp.
Arctic Daisy: Erigeron humilis
Yellow spotted saxifrage: Saxifraga bronchialis
Labrador tea: Ledum palustris ssp groenlandicum
Dwarf Blueberry: Vaccinium uliginosum
Capitate Lousewort: Pedicularis capitata
Mountain Avens: Dryas octopetala
Pixie Eye Primrose: Primula cuneifolia
Alp Lily: Lloydia serotina
Lapland Diapensia: Diapensia lapponicum ssp. obovata
Bell Heather: Cassiope stelleriana
Alpine Azalea: Loiseleuria procumbens
One-flowered Conquefoil: Potentilla uniflora
Alpine Arnica: Arnica alpina, ssp. angustifolia
Moss Campion: Silene acaulis
Mountain Harebell: Campanula lasiocarpa
Dwarf Fireweed: Epilobium latifolium
Moss Heather: Cassiope stelleriana
Coastal Paintbrush: Castilleja unalaschensis
Roseroot: Sedum rosea




~OVERALL IT WAS A GREAT TRIP AND IDENTIFIED A LOT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLOWERS THAT LIVE ON A HIGH ELEVATION IN THOMPSON PASS. :)

Lapland Rosebay

This is the third flower from our third day of the trip that I want to go more in depth about. This is a beautiful purple flower which we identified on the West Kennicott Glacier Trail.

Lapland Rosebay- Rhododendron lapponicum

Family: Heath/Ericaceae
Blooming Time: Late May to mid-June
Habitat: Woods, moist depressions, and alpine slopes in Interior Alaska
Description: An evergreen shrub, 6-18" tall with small oval, hard, dark green leaves with rusty undersides, similar to Labrador Tea but leaves appear to be arranged in whorls at the ends of the stems. The 5-petaled, 5/8" open funnel-shaped, magenta flowers bloom in dense clusters at the end of the branches.

Bluebells

This is the second flower I want to go more in depth with because they were all over every trail we were on in McCarthy and Kennicott.

Bluebells AKA Lungwort, Languid Lady, Chiming Bells.- Mertensia paniculata 

Family: Borage/Boraginaceae
Habitat: Woods and meadows throughout most of Alaska except Southeastern and north of the Brooks Range
Blooming Time: June and July
Description: A plant with many stems, 18 to 30" tall, with hairy, dark green leaves that are broad at the base and tapering to a long point. The flowers are tubular (funnel-shaped), pink in bud, later turning blue, and occasionally the flowers could be all pink.
Comments: This is an edible plant though somewhat fishy tasting. A related species, Oyster Leaf- Mertensia maritima, is a coastal plant found growing on beaches. It has very small blue, or sometimes white flowers and thick succulent fairly broad leaves that are frequently a light bluish-green color.
This is a very beautiful flower.

Yellow Dyras

Yellow Dryas is the first flower I identified on our trip

Yellow Dryas- Dryas Drummondii

Family: Rose/Rosaceae
Habitat: Dry gravel areas and river bars throughout interior, southcentral and eastern Alaska.
Blooming Time: June to early July
Description: A sprawling sub-shrub with oval basal leaves that sometimes have rolled edges. The leaf veins are very prominent and the edges wavy, being greenish-brown above to whitish from hairs underneath. The 2-3" high flower stem has no leaves. The calyx has blackish-brown hairs and the flowers are nodding and only partially open. The seed head is in a spiral, opening fully to a tannish fluffy head. It may be seen along the Glenn Highway near the village of Eklutna and is common in gravelly areas near glacial streams.
And that was were I first identified this flower, right along a glacial stream and lake.

McCarthy and Kennicott field trip

Katrina Moran
McCarthy Trail
First day arriving in McCarthy
7/10/12
Today was over cast and the weather was bad. It was raining all day long and cloudy. It took us 6.5 hours to drive from Valdez because the road conditions were so bad. We finally arrived in McCarthy at 3:45 pm.

The first place we walked and started identifying was the trail right outside of McCarthy, off the side of the road. There was many different flowers and plants we identified this trip.

List identified on first day:

Yellow Dryas- Dryas Drummondii
Soap Berry-Shepherdia canadensis
Yellow Oxytrope- Astragalus umbellatus
Trembling Aspen-Populus tremuloides
Pink Pyrola- Pyrola asarifolia
Northern Yarrow- Archillea borealis
Coastal Paintbrush- Casttilleja unalaschensis
There was a skunk shelf fungus mushroom that was growing on the side of a willow. It was not in our mushroom book we brought with us.
Orange cup fungi
Common Scouring-Rush- Equisetum hyemale
Alpine Bearberry-Arctostaphylos alpina




----------------------------------------------------------***----------------------------------------------------




List identified on second day in Kennicott, Alaska!!
This was our second day on our field trip and the day was completely different than the first day. It was gorgeous out! The sun was shining and blue skies everywhere. It was the best day to have the field trip to identify plants and flowers.

Blue Bells- Mertensia paniculata
Wild Sweet Pea- Hedysarum Mackenzii
Large-Flowered Wintergreen- Pyrola grandiflora
Northern Goldenrod- Solidago lepida
Twin Flower- Linnaea borealis
Labrador Tea- Ledum palustris ssp groenlandicum
Crowberry- Empetrum nigrum
Common Blueberry- Vaccinium myrtilloides
Monkshood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium
Common Juniper- Juniperus communis
Paper Birch- Betula papyrifera var. papyrifera
Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste





-----------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------





The third and last day in McCarthy. We ate breakfast and packed our bags to get ready to hit the road. Before we started back home we stopped into another trail along side of the McCarthy road, called West Kennicott Glacier Trail. Here we identified more. The day was gloomy out and sprinkling some what, and the bugs were horrible. I thought that was one of the major differences between the Kennicot trail the day before and the forest in the West Kennicott Glacier Trail. The forests were different also because of the height difference too, the forest in Kennicot was alot more open and on the side of the mountains while the forest in the WKGT that we identified on the last day was more closer to the ground and water, it was also more compacted with trees and plants, it almost seemed like we were walking in more of a rainforest.

Dwarf Dogwood- Cornus canadensis
Prickly Rose-Rosa acicularis
Stiff Club Moss- Lycopodium annotinum
Bluebells- Mertensia paniculata
Paper Birch- Betula papyrifera var. papyrifera
Western Columbine- Aquilegia formosa
Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste
Lapland Rosebay- Rhododendron lapponicum
Northern Red Currant- Ribes triste
Monks hood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium
Beautiful Jacobs Ladder- Polemonium pulcherrimum


That was the list of all three places where our class identified plants for our Natural History class. It was a great trip to McCarthy and Kennicott, we identified a more variety of plants and flowers in the Western Boreal Forest in the National Park. Along with doing that we got to learn of the history behind McCarthy and Kennicott, which I found to be pretty amazing information. This trip was great and I am very glad I went.

Western Columbine

 Western Columbine—Aquilegia Formosa is a distinguished 2 to 3 feet tall herb. The Latin word “columbina” means “dove like.” It lives in wooded mountain slopes and meadows in Southeastern and costal Southcentral Alaska. The base of leaves is twice divided into three parts, and the stem leaves are divided once. The leaves are dark green above and grayish-green below. It blooms in mid-June through July. The flower is unique shape; it has five red 10 to 25 mm long sepals, red 10 to 20 mm long and straight spurs, and yellow 2 to 6 mm long tube-shaped petals that stick out. The flower strongly attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. It’s called “red rain-flowers” in Haida; their tradition says if the flower was picked, it would be rain.   

Reference:
http://rainyside.com/plant_gallery/natives/Aquilegia_formosa.html
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/columbines/aquilegia_formosa.shtml

West Kennicott Glacier Trail

Date: July 12, 2012
Time: 12:30-1:00 p.m.
Weather: Shower & Fog


Dwarf Dogwood—Cornus Canadensis

Stiff Club Moss—Lycopodium annotinum

Alpine Azalea—Loiseleuria procumbens

Western Columbine—Aquilegia formosa

Northern Red Currant—Ribes triste

Monkshood—Aconitum delphinifolium

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Paper Birch—Betula papyrifera

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

Indistinguishable Bugs!!

 The final day, we walked in woods for just 30 minutes before leaving McCarthy. It was a damp wood covered spongy mosses, Dwarf Dogwood, and dead Spruce. Mosses, Dwarf Dogwood, or moist environment were common in the top of Dock Point Trail though kinds of trees and shrubs there were different. There were lots of ferns and willows at the top of Dock Point, but we didn’t see them in McCarthy. Dock point has Sitka Spruce, but this area doesn’t; it has Black and White Spruce because of Taiga and Boreal Forest.
 We couldn’t concentrate on observation because of a mass of huge bugs… They are of course an important part of nature though they were crazy! The overnight field trip was so informative and interesting; I’m a lucky one to have such a good opportunity of spending in the largest National Park in the States and had a really great time!

Yellow Spotted Saxifrage

 Yellow Spotted Saxifrage—Saxifrage bronchialis is about 20cm high and a tiny flower that is a family of saxifrage. The word “Saxifrage” means stone-breaker. It is often confused with Prickly Saxifrage that has cream-colored petals and blooms earlier (late May to mid-June). It lives in rocky alpine ridges though most of Alaska except Southeast and the Yukon River drainage. It blooms in July. The spoon-shaped leaves are very small and hairy, and closely crowded together, so it looks like a moss. The flower is about 1 cm across, has 5 white to light yellow petals with obvious red or purple dots above the middle and yellow-orange spots near the base. It is recorded that the Siberian Natives used it for respiratory problems.

Reference:
http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2010/08/saxifraga_bronchialis.php
http://science.halleyhosting.com/nature/gorge/5petal/saxi/saxifraga/bronchialisvesper.htm

Kennicott

Date: July 11, 2012
Time: 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Weather: Beautiful sunny day with a bit strong sunshine

Siberian Aster—Aster sibiricus

Yellow Spotted Saxifrage—Saxifrage bronchialis

Large-Flowered Wintergreen—Pyrola grandiflora

Kamchatka Rockcress—Arabis lyrata

Twin Flower—Linnaea borealis

Eskimo Potato—Hedysarum alpinum

Dwarf Fireweed (River Beauty)—Epilobium latifolium

Labrador Tea—Ledum palustris groenlandicum

Monkshood—Aconitum delphinifoloum

Mistletoe

Common Juniper—Juniperus Communis

Wild Red Currant—Ribes triste

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Paper Birch—Betula papyrifera

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

 The second day was a perfect weather to hike! We could clearly see the glaciers and mountains. We took a shuttle bus to Kennicott where is about 4.5 miles from McCarthy. After learning about its history of mine, we walked on a trail. It was a nice and mild course, and the views of the Chugach Mountains and glacier, especially a layer of glacial moraines were amazing! The trail was along the rocky slope ridge; there were several different plants and flowers we couldn’t find in the McCarthy.   

Single Delight

 Single Delight—Moneses uniflora is also known as one-flowered wintergreen. Without its flower, it’s often mixed up with One-Sided Wintergreen which has larger leaves. Greek word “Moneses” means solitary delight. Single Delight is a fragrant and slender evergreen wildflower that is about 4 to 6 cm high. It lives in moist coniferous forests with moss ground or humus woods; it can be seen through most of Alaska except the North Slope, the Aleutian Chain, and western coastal areas. 1 to 3 cm long leaves are at the base and round with shallow teeth. It blooms in June and July; the flower is a waxy white or pinkish white on a leafless stem and has 5 pointed petals. The blight green ovary sticks out and the face of the flower looks down like making a bow to the ground. According to the US Forest Service, Native Americans used it as a cold remedy for skin problems, and scientists have discovered that stem and leaf extracts from the plant can use for antibiotics against several mycobacteria, including the organism that causes tuberculosis.

Reference:             

http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/moneses_uniflora.shtml

http://science.halleyhosting.com/nature/basin/5petal/heath/moneses/uniflora.htm

McCarthy

Date: July 10, 2012
Time: 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Weather: Continuous rain, chilly, and snow on the top of mountains!

Yellow Dryas—Dryas Drummondii

Single Delight (Shy Maiden)—Moneses uniflora

Soapberry—Sapindus drummondii

Prickly Rose—Rosa acicularis

Pink Pyrola (Wintergreen)—Pyrola asarifolia

Northern Yarrow—Achillea borealis

Coastal Paintbrush (Yellow Paintbrush)—Castilleja unalaschensis

Grass Of Parnassus (Bog Star)—Parnassia palustris

Shelf Fungus—Ganoderma applanatum

Common Horsetail—Equisetum arvense

Orange Cup Fungus

Alpine Bearberry—Arctostaphylos alpine

Arctic Daisy—Chrysanthemum arcticum

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Quaking Aspen—Populus tremuloides

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

McCarthy is a small cozy town where is an end of the road to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. After passing through Thompson Pass, we could soon see Boreal Forest and Muskeg around there. It was a great view and drive even though it was rain. We walked around the lodge we stayed to observe species in Taiga. The soil in the area we walked was glacial till, and there were covered numbers of rocks. We could find lots of lichens, mosses, fungi, flowers, and moose’s dung.      

Goatsbeard

 Goatsbeard—Aruncus sylvester is one of shrubs and belongs to rose family. It grows 1-2 meters tall. When its mature white flower-panicles become plumpy, they bend from the weight of the flowers; the name “Goatsbeard” was from this form looks like a white beard. Aruncus in Greek means a goat's beard and sylvester means woodland.
 Leaves are alternate, compound, and distinguished; they have double pinnate toothed and pointed tips. The upper surface is dark green with red veins while the lower surface is light green and hairy. The stem has also a reddish cast. It’s blooming toward July; the flowers on long panicles, and the white five petals are each about 1 mm long. They turn a creamy-white and produce abundance of seeds, its seed-head is golden brown and seen in winter to spring.
 Goatsbeard lives in moist and open woods, meadows, and along streams. It’s found from south Alaska to northwestern California, Oregon, British Columbia, Japan, Kamchatka, and over much of Eurasia.
 Many natives have used it in different ways; for instance, some used the roots for curing blood diseases, some made tea from its roots to lessen stomach pain, and the others used both roots and leaves for curing smallpox.

Reference:

http://science.halleyhosting.com/nature/gorge/5petal/rose/aruncus/goat.htm

http://www.darringtonwatourism.com/a/darringtonwatourism.com/darrington/darrington-the-beautiful/wildflowers/wildflowers-directory/goatsbeard-aruncus-sylvester-k

Shoup Bay Trail

Date: June 28 2012
Time: 1:30-5:00 p.m.
Climate: Sunny with a clear sky, a gentle breeze

Beach: sandy and rocky

Acorn Barnacle—Balanus Glandula

Blue Mussel—Mytilus Trossulus

Sitka Periwinkle—Littorina Sitkana

Plate Limpet—Tectura Scutum

Butter clams—Saxidomus gigantean

Shield Limpet—Lottia Pelta

Beach Greens—Honckenya peploides

Goatbeard—Aruncus Sylvester

Trail: flat, peat, muddy

Kodiak Ringlet—Coenonympha tullia

Black Oystercatcher—Haematopus bachmani

Devil’s Club—Echinopanax horridum

Sitka Alder—Alnus crispa sinuate

Red-Berried Elder—Sambucus racemosa

Wild Geranium—Geranium erianthum

Chocolate Lily—Fritillaria camschatcensis

Watermelon Berry—Streptopus amplexifolius

Star Flower—Trientails europea arctica

False Hellebore—Veratrum viride

Wild Celery—Angelica lucida

Salmonberry—Rubus chamemorous

False Lily of-the-valley—Maianthemum dilatatum

Wild-Flag—Iris setosa

Shooting Star—Dodecatheon pulchellum

Dwarf Dodwood—Cornus Canadensis

Skunk Cabbage—Lysichiton americanum

Alaskan Spirea—Spirea Beauverdiana

Nagoonberry—Rubus arcticus

Bog Candle—Platanthera dilatata

Sitka Willow—Salix sitchensis

Spread-Leaved Peat Moss—Sphagnum squarrosum

False Pixie Cup—Cladonia chlorophaea

Black Cottonwood—Populus balsamifera trichocarpa

 It was a beautiful sunny day! Shoup Bay Trail is usually hard to walk in a rainy day because of streams and peat. It was also muddy and slippery today, but I enjoyed squashy and spongy feelings. The way to beach was flat and easy, and the beach was so shiny today; we walked around to observe some algae, clams, or loaches behind rocks. On the trail, various flowers were in bloom. There is a huge tree (Black Cottonwood) like a big mother; in fact, this ancient tree is a home to numbers of organisms such as moss, mushrooms, slugs, or birds. It’s really nice to know their relationships and lives. Every species are so alive!

ALPINE FORGET-ME-NOT

Katrina Moran
6/22/12
Post of a flower that I will be going more in depth about
I identified this flower on our Dock Point field trip


ALPINE FORGET-ME-NOT : Myosotis alpestris, ssp. asiatica

Family: Borage/Boraginaceae
Habitat: Sub-alpine and alpine meadows and slopes (lower in coastal areas) throughout most of Alask, except Southeastern and the Yukon River drainage.
Blooming Time: Late May-June on south facing slopes to early August in northern snow beds.
Description: A perennial plant, 6-15' tall, with long-stemmed, lanceolate blue-green leaves with many stiff hair. The plant has one or more hairy stems with sessile leaves reducing in size upwards. The flowers are 1/4 to 3/8' across, have 5 rounded blue petals joined at the base with a yellow eye surrounded by white. The spike of flowers curled in a cyme in bud.
Comments: This is the Alaska State Flower. There are several members of this genus and closely related genera in Alask. The flower spike is tightly curled in bud. Most have blue flowers, but sometimes could be white or pink. Arctic species belong to the Eritrichium genus. They have very short stems, rosettes of small, hairy leaves at the base and the flowers are vivid blue.

These are such beautiful little flower I had to share more about this flower in my blog. I really like it also because it is my States flower and I think it deserved a little more appreciation! :)


References: Alaskan Wildflowers by Verna E. Pratt

DOCK POINT

Katrina Moran
Dock Point field trip on 6/21/2012

The weather was beautiful out and the temperature was around 70 degrees. It was a perfect day for a hike and a field trip. All clear skies and just gorgeous out. Our class went to Dock Point but started identifying organisms on the beach first and then worked our way up the trail afterwards.
I am going to list all the different organisms, plants, flowers and animals that I saw and identified on our field trip to Dock Point, enjoy!

Organisms found on beach:

SITKA PERIWINKLE- Littorina Sitkana
ALEUTIAN MOON SNAIL- Natica Aleutica
LUVA ALGAE aka Sea Lettuce
BALTIC MACOMA- Macoma Balthica
BEACH HOPPER- Traskorchestia Traskiana aka "Jumping Jacks"
BLUE MUSSEL- Mytilus Trossulus
RED MITE-Dermanyssus gallinae 
ACORN BARNACLE- Balanus Glandula
PLATE LIMPET- Tectura Scutum aka "China Hats"

References: Alaska's Seashore Creatures by Carmen M. Field and Conrad J. Field

Plants and flowers I identified while on the Dock Point trail:

COASTAL SAXIFRAGE- Saxifraga ferruginea  
SALMONBERRY- Rubus spectabilis 
DEVILS CLUB- Oplopanax horridus 
RED ELDER BERRY-aka RED ELDER- Sambucus racemosa ssp. pubens
SITKA ALDER- Alnus crispa ssp. sinuata
BLACK COTTON WOOD- Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa
COW PARSNIP-Heracleum lanatum
FRAGILE FERN- Cystopteris fragilis
LADY FERN- Athyrium filix-femina
WILD CELERY- Angelica lucida
NORTHERN YARROW- Achillea borealis
ARCTIC DOCK-Rumex arcticus
SITKA SPRUCE- Picea sitchensis
TRAILING BLACK CURRANT- Ribes laxiflorum
SITKA WILLOW- Salix sitchensis
GOATS BEARD- Aruncus sylvester
ALASKAN BLUEBERRY- Vaccinium alaskaense
SKUNK CABBAGE
OSTRICH FERN- Matteucia struthiopteris aka "Fiddle Heads"
ARCTIC WILLOW- Salix arctica
FALSE HELLEBORE- Veratrum viride 
DWARF DOGWOOD- Cornus canadensis
OVAL-LEAVED BLUEBERRY- Vaccinium ovalifolium
GRASS OF PARNASSUS, BOG STAR- Parnassia palustris
ALPINE FORGET-ME-NOT- Myosotis alpestris, ssp. asiatica
SITKA MOUNTAIN ASH- Sorbus sitchensis


References: Alaskan Wildflowers by Verna E. Pratt and Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coat by Pojar Mackinnon

Some of the different kinds of animals I saw and identified were:
STELLERS JAY- Cyanocitta stelleri
NORTH WESTERN CROW- Corvus caurinus
BALD EAGLE- Heliaeetus leucocephalus




References: Guide to the Birds of Alaska by Robert H. Armstrong

Overall a great day for a field trip and learned a lot of other different kinds of plants and animals I never knew about or learned about. Great day!